Today we went to our first used bookstore in Indiana. We had seen a sign for it once and I heard about it at my writer’s group. Being a family of avid books shoppers, we couldn’t pass such a thing up, now could we? So, off we went.
We weren’t sure what time it opened, and we arrived a half hour before it did but the man very kindly opened for us anyhow. He asked each of us if he could help us find something, but as we’re all browsers we said no thanks.
It wasn’t a huge store. Long, but just one floor. It had a fair share of books. I think the most interesting part about it was the bookseller.
The man was probably in his fifties. I don’t know how long he’s been in the business, but when we all came up with lots of purchases off the dollars shelf (or six for five dollars and so I added Abby’s to my pile – I got five really old books out of the deal, one even signed by the author for less than a dollar a piece!) he told us that when he was a kid he loved the dollar shelves in bookstores because that was all he could afford. So, he determined he would always have a dollar shelf (or half a wall of them as the case may be). He asked if we were from the area. We told him we had moved here in November. He asked from where. We told him New Hampshire. Then he went on and on about the wonderful used bookstores that are found in New England. He followed this up with a history lesson:
When the Puritans came to New England, all of them were literate. And, as they took education very seriously, they taught the following generations to read. Descendents of those men and women followed the Great Lakes west, settling around them. Up there, you can find some really nice used bookstores. However, those who settled middle Indiana and south were from a little of everywhere. Most came to hunt, farm and fight Indians. They were not literate. What need had they to read? Because of that, used books in the middle and southern parts of Indiana are very rare.
I had never thought much about the literacy of the American people, for America has always had a very high literacy rate and I take the ability to read for granted. But isn’t it interesting that even reading and books have left a mark on our history?
We weren’t sure what time it opened, and we arrived a half hour before it did but the man very kindly opened for us anyhow. He asked each of us if he could help us find something, but as we’re all browsers we said no thanks.
It wasn’t a huge store. Long, but just one floor. It had a fair share of books. I think the most interesting part about it was the bookseller.
The man was probably in his fifties. I don’t know how long he’s been in the business, but when we all came up with lots of purchases off the dollars shelf (or six for five dollars and so I added Abby’s to my pile – I got five really old books out of the deal, one even signed by the author for less than a dollar a piece!) he told us that when he was a kid he loved the dollar shelves in bookstores because that was all he could afford. So, he determined he would always have a dollar shelf (or half a wall of them as the case may be). He asked if we were from the area. We told him we had moved here in November. He asked from where. We told him New Hampshire. Then he went on and on about the wonderful used bookstores that are found in New England. He followed this up with a history lesson:
When the Puritans came to New England, all of them were literate. And, as they took education very seriously, they taught the following generations to read. Descendents of those men and women followed the Great Lakes west, settling around them. Up there, you can find some really nice used bookstores. However, those who settled middle Indiana and south were from a little of everywhere. Most came to hunt, farm and fight Indians. They were not literate. What need had they to read? Because of that, used books in the middle and southern parts of Indiana are very rare.
I had never thought much about the literacy of the American people, for America has always had a very high literacy rate and I take the ability to read for granted. But isn’t it interesting that even reading and books have left a mark on our history?
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